Afraid of the Dark : Part II
by HayNet
Summary: Riddick leaves the Necromongers to grieve, but the real Jack is commanding her own army to take out the Necromongers. Will the pair reunite? and what will happen if they do? Rubbish summery but I will redo later.
1. Prolog

**Afraid of the Dark : Part II**

**Are you with me?**

**-oOo-**

**Author:** HayNet aka Kayleigh M Charman

**Summery:** Lord Marshal Riddick walks out on his army to grieve the loss of Kyra, unaware that the real Jack is Commander of an army of rebels whom fight against the Necromongers. With the Necromongers in a crisis of leadership, Lord and Dame Vaako rise to the rank of Lord and Dame Marshal, with the intention of continuing the Necromonger legacy. But will the rebels be able to stop their reign of terror? Will Jack and Riddick reunite after ten years apart? And will they ever find the love they once felt for one another so long ago?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pitch Black, Dark Fury or The Chronicles of Riddick. Nor do I own the characters of all three films.

**-oOo-**

**Rating:**15

**Language:** Frequent/Strong

**Sex/Nudity:** Rare/Mild

**Violence:** Frequent/Strong

**Other:** Mild Horror


	2. First and Always

**Chapter One**

**First and Always**

**-oOo-**

Riddick had never felt so lost in his entire life. It felt as though his insides were hollow, and although he never looked to the future, he found himself dreading the next day, and the day after that and so on until the rest of his life stretched out too long into an endless path.

As he sat their, his head in his hand, the body of his one true friend, lying at his feet, his mind ran blank of all else, only that he owed Kyra a decent burial. He owed her a peaceful afterlife, because life had done nothing but deal her shit since he had known her.

Then a flurry of movement ran over the necromongers, he looked up and saw, one-by-one, they kneeled to him. His silver eyes looked down at Lord Vaako, he noticed his jaw twitching and how his eyes bore into the floor under him. Riddick knew of Vaako's ambition to become the new Lord Marshal, he had seen the way he looked at his predecessor and the way his wife gave him meaningful looks when she thought no one was looking. The hard truth was, that as soon as Riddick had turned his back, Vaako would be only too happy to stick a knife in him and take the crown for himself. But why wait for that day? He didn't want to be Lord Marshal of a brainwashing, slaughter cult, he wanted to be alone with Kyra, he wanted to say goodbye, then he wanted to disappear into the stars and hope to find some kind of peace within the deep dark of space.

Riddick got to his feet, followed swiftly by Lord Vaako. He starred up at Riddick, "My Lord" he said with a small bow, "We are at your disposal"

Riddick growled, causing Vaako to make the slightest flinch. Riddick turned and gently picked Kyra off of the hard ground and cradled her close to his chest, her head lolled lifelessly onto his shoulder. He turned once again to leave, but Vaako did not move from his way.

"Either step aside, or I'll make you," said Riddick.

Vaako stood for a moment longer, before coming to conclusion that stepping out of the way would be better for his heath. Riddick watched him as he took position next to his wife and went to walk down the isle of necromongers.

"Lord Marshal, you cannot think to leave your army in the midst of your heroic victory" Dame Vaako spoke up, her husband glaring viciously at her, but Riddick continued to walk on, cradling Kyra's fragile remains in his strong arms.

"I ain't your Lord Marshal," he growled and without another word, left through the crowd of silent necromongers.

Dame Vaako gripped her husband's arm as soon as Riddick was out of sight, a flurry of questionable whispers floated around the room. They were an army without a leader.

"You must take command!" she hissed in his ear, "So you did not kill the Lord Marshal, but Riddick has willingly given up his position" she looked wildly around the confused faces, "quickly, before they begin to question they own loyalty to the necromonger way"

Vaako felt a flurry of excitement in his gut. Of course, his wife was right. But he felt compelled to follow the rules he had been taught to follow. Riddick had to die before he took his place as Lord Marshal, but never had a man walked out of the position willingly. But he had always dreamed of ruling sooner of later, he knew the late Lord Marshal had sensed his ambition, maybe that was why he never put Vaako on more career boosting assignments, he was always left to lead the clean-up crews and to check the progress of the new recruits, he wasn't even allowed to join the strategic meetings. But now was his chance, he could have his moment. But he never imagined he would gain Lord Marshal by default, he always thought he would earn it. But he realised this was not an opportunity to be sniffed at; he had to make a move.

With as much confidence as he could muster he walked up the podium and stood before the Lord Marshal' throne. Some of the soldiers saw the sure move and pointed out to those who weren't looking. Vaako raised his hands over those in front of him.

"My fellow necromongers! We have received a great tragedy within our walls. For in a matter of a few hours, we have lost not one, but two Lord Marshals. But do not be disheartened, for it is the necromonger way to hold our heads high through dark times and soldier on to produce the best and most powerful army in this universe and the next. We will march on towards the Underverse with the promise of joining our late Lord Marshal in peace. But I ask you, I implore you to appoint me the new Lord Marshal, for I have toiled for our cause more then most and I would die for our cause a hundred times to see our way of live embraced by every planet in every galaxy. And I promise to lead you to victory, I will lead us to the Underverse where you will be embrace for your loyalty and service, so trust me, join me and together we will purify the whole universe!"

For only a moment there was a silence that followed Vaako's words, but then there was an uproar of supportive cries and fists punching the air. Dame Vaako found that she had been holding her breath through the entire speech and exhaled with relief, rushing to take her place at her husband's side, she gripped his arm and smiled over her new domain, everything she had ever wanted was finally laid out in front of her as if in a golden platter. She smiled as she looked up at her proud husband.

_Yes_, she thought, _this was certainly worth the wait_.

**-oOo-**

**A/N: Wohoo! I'm back and so is Part II. Let me know what you think of the first chappie. To be fair, it is a little short, but there we go.**


	3. Unbelievable Things

**Chapter Two**

**Unbelievable Things**

**-oOo-**

A young woman leant heavily on a windowsill looking out over a baron empty plain of land. Living on a moon was hard if you enjoyed the aroma of wild grown flowers, as the land was nothing but ash and dust, nothing grew, nothing survived except for the five thousand rebels living in what could only be described as a rubbish ground for dilapidated space vehicles and other garbage that had either drifted through space to settle there or been left by passing travellers.

The door to the woman's office opened, well, it was an old shelled out commercial shuttle, but it now played the part of the Commander's office. A young man, no more then eighteen, with straggly brown hair that mopped across his eyes stepped in. He had known Commander Fry since she were only fifteen, and over the years, he had grown fond of her, even more then he should, but with that adoration he had a great respect because he saw his Commander change throughout the years, she had once been full of life and an optimist, but now it seemed as though shutters had closed within her eyes, she was now harder to read and her expression was always hard, cold and calculating. Sometimes he thought the girl he had known and the Commander were two different people, but then she was the only one around who had ever shown him respect in return.

The young woman didn't look at the door as her guest walked in; she was still starring out of the window, her face more unreadable then ever. In her thin hand saw gripped a piece of paper tightly, as if she would never let it go. Her silky black hair felt over her shoulders and stopped just after the nap of her neck. She wore her usual fatigues of grey combat trousers, thick black boots and a dirty white tank top. Her skin was milky pale and almost flawless, save for the angry red scars on her arms. Only the young man knew the history of these scars and many of the rebels had queried about them, but he honoured his Commanders wishes not to let anyone know.

The boy took several steps forward, stopped, spacing his feet a foot apart and gripped his arms behind his back, "Commander. You summoned me?" he asked.

The woman refused to look up, not even acknowledging the boys existence in her office, instead she glanced down at the piece of paper in her hand and sighed softly.

"Commander?" he asked with a twinge of concern in his voice. The wall that she had built around herself had crumbled enough for him to see the sadness in her eyes.

"Do you remember when we first met, Tim?" she asked. Unlike most of the rebels, the Commander always called Tim by his first name, not just because she had been the one to name him, but because he had no second name to be called by.

"Of course, you were stealing from my shop" he said, proud of himself to see that his words had brought the faint ghost of a smile on her pale lips.

"I took you to Hell with me" she replied, still looking at the note.

"And you got us out again, Commander" he said sharply. It still annoyed him that she carried with her the guilt of getting him captured by a secret medical experiment operation called Cronos. At first, yeah, he had been pissed, but she came back for him once she had escaped and she stuck with him and looked out for him since that day. To him, their score was past settled.

"Still" Commander Fry muttered, "I got a lot of people killed"

"Not to sound insolent, Commander. But I believe it was that crazy son-of-a-bitch, Dr Redman who got those people killed. Not you" he replied, glad to see another small smile grace that sad face.

"I made two real friends in that Hell hole" she muttered and finally she moved around to face Tim, her eyes were heavy and fatigue was weighing her down. She leaned against the wall and fondled the note some more, "I promised to take care of both of you, but it seems I can't even do that right" she added glumly.

"Commander?" Tim asked fearfully, _what had happened?_

Commander Fry sighed again and looked Tim dead in the eye, "Kyra's dead" she stated.

Tim felt his heart miss a beat or two before he let the anguish wash over him. Kyra had been like a sister to him. She had always been there to give advice, to cheer him up, she even knew how he felt about Commander Fry, but now she was gone.

"Jesus" he muttered and felt his shoulders drop.

"I'm sorry Tim, you were as close to her as I was" Commander Fry said, stepping forward and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Tim's insides squirmed a little as her warm palm came into contact with his bare shoulder.

_Now's not the time_, he scolded himself mentally.

"How did it happen? She told me she was going undercover before she left" he asked. It was true, the Commander and Kyra had been organising some deeply secret mission that Kyra was expected to be away for a couple of months, but he had always expected her to walk back to the barracks with that cheeky smile on her face and boast about her adventures, now it seemed, he would never see her again.

"You're my friend, Tim. I trust you with my life, so what I'm going to tell you is strictly between us" Commander Fry said, suddenly turning back into the emotionless void that she now was.

"Kyra went undercover as me, I mean, how I was before all this" she said, pointing around her office and out of the window to a unit of rebels doing weapons training, "It was her mission to get into Crematoria and meet a certain individual who I believe was going to try and find me at some point, but his affiliation with the Necromongers would have compromised our position if he came looking for me, so I instructed Kyra to keep him away, to convince him she was me. However, along the way, the Necromongers captured her and…" she faltered for a moment, "…She died to protect me" she finished.

"It's how most of us would like to go, Commander" Tim answered truthfully, "You're the reason half of us haven't got spikes sticking into our necks"

"It's not the point though, is it Tim?" the Commander said with a wisp of a groan, surprising Tim, "I sent her to her death, all because I wanted to keep one man off my tail for long enough to take the Necromongers down"

Tim felt a tinged of jealousy in the pit of his stomach. _A man?_ He thought, _why was he chasing the Commander?_ He wanted to voice his questions, but he held his tongue, sure it was none of his business.

"I'm sorry, Tim. You don't have to hear this, I'm sure you want to grieve"

"I'm fine" Tim said, a little too quickly, he wanted to make sure his Commander was okay too, after all, she had been as equally as close to Kyra as he had, "Is there any way of getting her body back?" he asked timidly.

Commander Fry rubbed her forehead, "Intel says she died a week ago. Apparently she was moved and buried somewhere on Helion Prime. I can't think to disturb her, besides the planet's still swarming with the Necromongers, but we'll make sure she gets the recognition she deserves" she nodded.

Tim nodded, "She would like that"

The woman before him forced a smiled, "You're dismissed Tim, take the rest of the day off training and get some R & R" she instructed. Tim went to protest but her eyes turned back to ice and he was sure she was mentally challenging him to argue with her. He pursed his lips, nodded and left the room, careful to close the door behind him. He looked back once more and through the window he could see the Commander looking once more out of the window.

"I'm sorry" he whispered, "I'm so sorry, Jack"

**-oOo-**

**FemmePhantom - Thanks for my very first review. I'm really looking forward to Part II, I got all manner of ideas for it.**

**angelwingz21 - Hey I remember you, thanks for reviewing again.**

**Death by Teacup - Still an awesome name! Hey, I made a promise to do Part II and I always keep my promises...well...most of them.**

**A/N : Now I know a lot of questions are going to pop up with this chappie. Why is Jack now called Fry? (I'm sure you can figure that out!) Why has Jack and Tim lost their tough, street lingo? That will be explained in the future, I promise. And probably, why didn't Kyra tell Riddick the truth as she died? All will be answered soon.**


	4. Voices

**Chapter Three**

**Voices**

**-oOo-**

"_Jack? Come in Jack. It's Kyra"_

"_Kyra, I told you not to contact me unless it's an emergency!"_

"_It is a fucking emergency! I think Riddick's dead"_

"_What?!"_

"_The Necromongers are here, they're after Riddick_. _We escaped but one of those Necro-sons-of-bitches knocked him down. I can't see him breathing. But listen, there's a Necro ship still here, I figure I give myself up and get taken to their mother ship-"_

"_Are you insane? They might kill you!"_

"_There's a good chance, but we'll never get another opportunity like this, we need it"_

"_Okay okay, just be careful"_

**-oOo-**

Commander Jack Fry cradled her head in her hands. She wished with every fibre of her being that she had ordered Kyra to stay where she was, the rebels could have picked her up and she would still be alive, but instead, Jack's pride had ruled her and the only thing that mattered was getting someone inside the mother ship.

"I might as well have killed her myself," Jack muttered.

There was a rap at the door, "Come in" she summoned, straightening herself up and tried to look domineering. The door opened and a man Jack recognised as Ted Brewer entered. He was a large man, made of muscle. His hair was cropped short and two large eyebrows graced his small blue eyes. Jack saw that he looked pale and it appeared he had been crying. Jack felt something die inside of her; Tim had obviously spoken to Ted before she had had a chance. Ted and Kyra had been in love.

"I'm sorry Ted" Jack said sincerely.

The man looked down at his shoes, "She died doing the right thing, she wouldn't have wanted to go any other way" he stated, though it pained him to say it. Jack nodded.

"I swear to you-" she begun, but Ted swiftly interrupted.

"I'm sorry Commander, but I need to go there, and say goodbye. I need to" he said. Again Jack nodded, she needed the same thing.

"Once the Necromongers have cleared Helion Prime, I swear to you we will go"

Ted nodded, his bottom lip trembling as if he might cry again.

"You're dismissed Brewer. There will be a memorial this evening. If you wish to say a few words, please do," she said.

Ted saluted and left Jack back with her thoughts, which at the moment were very dark indeed.

**-oOo-**

Later that day, Jack could no longer face the quiet and loneliness of her office and went about strolling through the camp to take in what the rebels were doing. Many who knew Kyra well had been assigned the day off, so there were more people sitting about in dilapidated buildings and vehicles, drinking, playing cards or just resting. Many others, however, were busy either with weapons training, obstacle courses, learning hand-to-hand combat and the non-practical art of infiltration techniques and mass evasion. As Jack saw the grim determination on each man and woman's face, it made her proud to think her predecessor had left her in charge before he died.

Commander Wentworth Q Proctor, fifty-six, died of heart failure. That was what was chisel on his memorial. Jack found her feet automatically making their way to the tall statue of the man, welded and sculptured out of old bits of metal. She looked up at the face, which bore down on her with none of the kindness it had when the man was alive.

"I wish you were still here to guide me, I feel so blind. Sometimes I wish you hadn't left me with this responsibility" she asked the cold metal. And a voice from her past seemingly returned to her in a moment.

"The thing I like about you kid is that you survive on your gut. You're a survivor and survivors always make good leaders because then you can help those poor saps out there do the same. They will live on your every word, every command will keep them alive"

"Didn't work this time though did it Commander?" Jack said to the statue, "I fucked up big time. I'm only thankful that you weren't around to see it"

She turned her back on the statue and headed back to the barracks, glad to see that morale was still running strong within her troops, despite the lose of one of their own. Deep down, she knew that they had a good chance of finally beating the Necromongers. Firstly, because every one of these troops had suffered at their hands, whether their family was slaughtered or their planets destroyed, they all lost something and that grain of hate manifested itself into the hard and tireless soldiers she saw in front of her. Personally her own drive came from one simple sentence said to her ten years ago on the planet Zathos. A man had said something to her, which had both broken her heart and set her free.

"_You need to grow-up_" 

Damn right she had, she grown far away from the little street kid she had once been, most of that was thanks to Commander Proctors cruel and rigorous training which didn't only make her a strong fighter, but he had improved her mind, made her feel centred even in a crisis. She remembered once when she had cursed during a training exercise that had ended in the pretend deaths of her entire platoon, that he had hit her so hard with the butt of her own gun, she had been knocked out for almost two whole days. He personally had taught her elocution lessons; he believed that just because we were a rebel army, living on a dead moon, we didn't have to talk like degenerates.

Kyra, however, had remained the same over the years, she refused to train in the traditional combat styles, but adopted her own unique fighting skill that both impressed and annoyed the Commander. Jack found it amusing to see the conflicting emotions on the old mans face and she took it upon herself to employ Kyra's own moves into her training. She made a mental note to introduce the style into the other soldier's regime, a sort of living legacy of Kyra. She deserved that much.

Tim, however had matured and grown alongside Jack, taking in everything the Commander had to say and teach. She had a slight inkling maybe some of the motivation came from his growing attraction for her, but as he didn't act on the attraction, she had no reason to put him in his place.

With a sigh, Jack flicked her hair behind her shoulder and made her way to the debriefing room to figure out the rebel's next step even though the last had knocked her so hard on her ass, she couldn't even ahead two hours let alone two days.

**-oOo-**

**Pinkninja83 - Cool, thanks for adding me to your fav/alerts. I am a bit of a cliffie junkie, so just to warn you there will be quite a few on the way.**

**angelwingz21 - lol, thanks for the lovely review, I would have updated sooner but we had some big important people at work today and I was too pooped out to do anything when I got home.**

**FemmePhantom - I was going to have Riddick lead the Necromongers, but thought it would be a little OOC considering he lost Kyra and he's a loner, he wouldn't won't to be surrounded by hordes of soldiers all the time.**

**Death By Teacup - Wicked, thanks for the review.**

**Amita4ever - lol, thanks for bringing a smile to my face.**

**Amita4ever - Well to clear up the confusion Jack has spies everywhere, but she places someone on Helion Prime to keep an eye on Imam (you'll find out who the spy is later) the spy tells Jack that Imam had put the bounty on Riddicks head. Jack would assume her name would be brought up in conversation between the two and so planted Kyra as red herring. Jack had no idea Riddick was afflicated with the Necromongers until they attacked them on Crematoria, that's when Kyra sent the message (above) to Jack. Hope that clears it up a bit, I have been thinking of this story for quite a while so I think I can answer anything you throw at me!**

**A/N : Thanks for the many reviews, guys. Keep it up!**


	5. Had to End Sometime

**Chapter Four**

**Had to End Sometime**

**-oOo-**

A darkness shrouded the land that had once been lush and lucrative. Riddick strode through the ruins of the city, buildings were crumbling from the strong winds that swirled around him, the shroud he had wrapped Kyra in fluttered about, occasionally exposing her white, lifeless face causing a twinge in Riddick's chest. He continued on through the rubble, facing dead ahead so he could not see the face that had haunted him for so many years.

He was grateful that there was no one around to intrude on his weakness. He felt his senses had numbed almost to a point where he didn't care if someone was sneaking up on him. Actually, that wasn't entirely true, he needed to one thing before he could completely let himself sink into blissful ignorance of his surroundings. He had to bury Kyra and Imam.

It was the only fitting way to say good-bye then he would leave this planet and never return. He had no reason too; all that remained of Kyra and Imam were corpses.

Riddick felt cold at the thought, corpses? He'd seen dead bodies before, and of people he had even known, but they hadn't been Kyra, they hadn't been someone he had…what? Loved? Fry had come close to causing him pain, her death had hit him below the belt, but he was still primal, she hadn't burrowed a place in his heart.

_Dammit_, he thought, _damn you Jack_.

The dishevelled road that Riddick had been marching down, suddenly came to a dead end as an entire wall from a block of houses had crashed down across the pathway, Riddick turned right and then left with the delicate bundle still in his arms and found that there was a small alleyway between two taverns. No light penetrated the darkness, but that was of no concern, Riddick carefully lifted his knee to compensate for the lose of his arm in holding up Kyra and ripped off his goggles. The alleyway was now as clear as day, it seemed to have avoided most of the damage during the air raids, but there was a body of an elderly man slumped against the wall as if asleep.

It wasn't too unusual now on Helion Prime to see bodies littering the streets, after he had left the mother ship, Riddick had walked across many people hauling away the dead and throwing them into make shift graves. Others were moaning and crying over their loved ones as the remaining necromonger soldiers march on by back to their ships.

Riddick hadn't expected the necromongers to hang around too long after he abdicated. They had bled the planet dry and had converted all those that they needed and just as Riddick stepped into the alleyway, he heard a deafening roar of the ships' engines. The very earth vibrated sending unstable building crumbling further down. Riddick had to duck out of the way as a statue collapsed from above and landed with a heavy thump onto the dead mans leg, cracking it in several places.

Riddick glanced upwards and saw the towering ships storm upwards into the post war fog and dust clouds, the fiery lights of the engines the only indication of where the loud noise emitted.

Riddick waited until the air was once again calm before continuing forward, he had a good memory and recalled that Imam had been left lying somewhere the north of where he was, so once he exited the alleyway, he headed up town passing another orchestra of wailing families burying their dead family members and friends.

For almost a fraction of a second he felt as though he were a part of them, he felt their grief and lose. For that fraction he felt as though he had rejoined the human race, but then it passed and all he cared about was finding Imam. He vaguely wondered if his wife and daughter had discovered him themselves, did they even know he was dead?

Personally, Riddick had grown up without a father, he didn't know what it was like to lose someone who had brought you up into the world, and in that respect he was glad, the pain of losing Kyra was hard enough and he vowed never to allow himself to feel that close to another person ever again. He was now the only survivor of T2, saving Imam and Jack had only extended their lives for ten years. He had only prevented the inevitable. He was a survivor, they had not been so lucky, ideally he should have been the only one to escape that planet, but he had lost that independent streak, he had done the right thing and brought himself only pain in the process.

Riddick continued to stumble around us he came across the familiar stone arch that lead into atrium, a flight of chipped stairs rolled down on the gravelled floor and where he had left him, Imam lay, his arms outstretched and a pained look on his face. The blood that had expelled from the wound on his chest was now dark and dried onto his robes and puddled underneath him. Riddick carefully placed Kyra down a few feet away from Imam and he leaned over a wooden fence to yank a linen curtain down through a broken window. He shook it out, removing any shards of glass and carefully but swiftly rolled the Holy man up in it. Then, without much dignity for his two late friends, he slung the bodies over each shoulder and made his way out of the city to find the nearest untouched piece of grass.

It became apparent, the further that Riddick walked just how powerful the Necromongers were. He had walked at least three miles and still he encountered collapsed houses, cracked roads, dead bodies and the newly homeless shifting through the rubble of their homes to save their belongings.

No one bothered Riddick as he walked steadily with two bodies slung over his shoulders. It was a change, as he normally couldn't walk through any town with or without corpses. He would always be set upon by bounty hunters or screamed at by passer-by's who recognised him. But now, no one cared or even noticed him; they were too caught up in their own post apocalyptic lives.

Riddick looked ahead, sweat was beginning to run down his back and created a fine sheen across his forehead, but he could see a glimmer of the sun trying to penetrate the deep fog high above. Evidently he had been walking all night, but he didn't feel tired, he actually didn't feel anything anymore, he just had one goal that he was determined to complete before he started to think of his next move.

Up ahead the road became less defined and more natural, and further on the first natural patches of grass that opened out in a wild plain with the occasional clump of weeds, bushes at the occasional tree.

Riddick figured this was as good a place as any, he looked around, trying to find something he could use to dig a grave and to his relief, not far was a deep grave homed to about thirty bodies that had been unceremoniously thrown into the pit. By the look of their clothes and their unhealthy haggard look, Riddick could guess they were the unimportant vagabonds that didn't deserve a proper burial, but he was more interested in the shovel stilling out of a mound of earth. Riddick pulled it out and made his way down the small hill to the nearest tree, sheltering the muddy earth with its wide outstretched branches and thin leaves.

Riddick carefully laid the bodies on the ground as he went to work, pummelling the earth with the shovel as he dug deeper and deeper, wanting to make sure that his friends' bodies never resurfaced for the jackals or other scavengers to devour.

The fog had thinned out to the point of letting full rays penetrate its darkness by the time Riddick had completed digging the graves, he had to resort to pulling his goggles back down over his eyes and his torso was now dripping with sweat, he ached for a cold shower.

He threw the shovel down to the side and gently picked up the shrouded body of Imam, he got on his knees and lowered him into the nearest grave.

"It ain't a church yard, Holy Man, but you got a hell of a view" Riddick growled, checking over his shoulder once the body was rested. The city sat with a quiet dignity upon the hill, despite the obvious wounding of it, roofs were missing, towers and spires torn from the root and in some places swirling patterns of smoke danced up to join the fog, but there was a soft purple light behind it all that enveloped the city in a warm glow, taking away the ugliness that the Necromongers had left.

Furiously he began to tip the unearthed dirt back into the grave, quite quickly, the white curtain the Holy Man had been wrapped in, disappeared from view and the hole had quickly been filled. He patted down the Earth and then turned to Kyra. She lay so peacefully in her cocoon, but he lifted her up and gently put her down into her final resting place. He took a moment to looked at her covered form; it was the last image of her he would ever have.

"I'm sorry, kid. I can't help thinking I dragged you into this life. I hope in death you can at least find the peace you deserve," he muttered, surprising at how inspirational and meaningful his words were, even to himself.

Much more carefully he lowered the dirt onto the body until Kyra's grave was also filled. Silently he stood between the two graves, contemplating what life would have been like for them had they not met. Maybe Fry would have saved them and flown them off of T2 on her own, and maybe she would have adopted Jack as a sister and taught her how to pilot. Maybe Imam would have still met his wife and had his daughter, Ziza. Who knew?

Riddick threw the shovel to the side and made the arduous journey back into the heart of the city to tell the widow and fatherless daughter the bad news. Every bone in his body told him to just walk away, he wasn't got with breaking bad news, he hated to see women cry and feel the uncomfortable air about him when they did. He didn't know how to consol or speak comforting words, but he felt he owed it to Imam and he couldn't leave the question marks, all along his family wondering what had happened, living with false hope of his return as he rotted in a deep grave. He owed Imam that much.

**-oOo-**

**FemmePhantom - Well as Riddick is a loner, I thought it would be strange to have him be Lord Marshal over thousands of people when he'd probably rather be alone, especially after Kyra's death. I do have an idea of how Jack and Riddick will meet up and a particular spy will be a big part of that, but I won't tell you who the spy is just yet! Tim and Riddick probably will have a face off, but of course Tim would never win a physical battle bless him, but you have to wonder if Riddick would be able to forgive Jack for making him think Kyra was her? Eh?**

**blueberri304 - I know what you mean, it's been ages since I could just sit down and type another chapter, that was because I kinda had a bit of writers block and work really takes up most of my day. I was going to do a bit last night but I forgot it was Shrove Tuesday so put it off until today, hope you can forgive me!**

**Amita4ever - I know, I kinda have screwed to girl up a bit, but yes, she did find out Riddick was still alive. Her spy informed her, stay tuned to find out who it is! There will be more flashbacks in the future just to fill in the blanks. Sorry about my spelling, I'm really slacking at the moment, but when I get time I will sort it out.**

**Death By Teacup - Thanks, I will get more into Commander Wentworth Q Proctor, he's kind of Jack's inner voice of reason. Whenever she gets stuck she just thinks of what he would say or do. I'm glad you liked it.**

**emma-bug - I would have gotten this story up sooner, but I was desperate to finish my Da Vinci Code fanfic first so I didn't have any distractions, but then I watched 16 Blocks and just had to do a fic for that! Damn inspiration!**

**BatPhace - Hey, all is forgiven, you're here now so it's cool. I'm glad I didn't disappoint, it's hard to follow a story that so many people enjoyed. I only hope I don't let anyone down.**

**angelwingz21- Yeah I find that sometimes happens to me too, so I get in the habit of checking when I can. Glad to see you're enjoying this.**

**A/N: Sorry for the long delay folks, this chapter is obviously a bit more emotional then most, poor Riddick. But thanks for holding on.**


	6. Lesson Learned

**Chapter Five**

**Lesson Learned**

**-oOo-**

The evening wore on fast, Jack had organised a night of celebration and remembrance of Kyra for all the rebels. Beer had been specially imported from the local planet, Omergus, much to the soldiers' delight and several warming bonfires had been set up around the gathering, sending flickering flames into the sky and a steady warmth through the crowds as they congregated into groups, laughing and crying.

Commander Fry stood on the edge of the pit where the party was and looked down on her troops. Her eyes trailed over the soldiers then they rested on what the bonfires were surrounding. The memorial site. And there, standing beside her predecessor was a statue that a few talented ex-metal workers had constructed all day. Faces were turned up to the shiny, iron-plated version of Kyra as her blank silver eyes gazed up into the sky, her hair rolling down her back. Her clothes were even designed around her preferred baggy combats and gillet. It was Kyra.

Jack smiled up at the figure, picturing what Kyra would say if she were here now, looking up at a big metal version of herself. She could almost picture her friend next to her.

'_You know my tits ain't that small_' she heard her voice in her head. Jack smiled sadly as a singular tear rolled down her face, '_And what's with my hair?_'

A sob caught in her throat, which surprised Jack, she had not shed one tear for almost ten years, a fact she had been proud of. Or maybe it was pride that had prevented her from showing any emotion, she had convinced herself it was a weakness, that perhaps her life would have turned out better, or been less of a struggle if she had only been a stronger person, like the Commander or even like Kyra. Jack had felt below them both, so she had been surprised when Commander Proctor had left her in charge of the rebels; in fact, she'd nearly had a heart attack. Kyra had been far more likely to inherit, even though she drove the Commander mad with her attitude and defiant ways; she was more like him that Jack would ever be. In some ways, Jack had been jealous of Kyra, because after all they had been through, Kyra had come out stronger, and she had lived a full life and died a heroine. And what did Jack have? Sure, a rebel army, the responsibility to take down the biggest evil the Universe had ever seen. But even though people surrounded her, she felt incredibly alone and even more so now that Kyra was gone.

Jack sniffled and caught the attention of a couple of rebels nearby; they eyed her in surprise to see her blotchy eyes and sad expression. Sensing her weakness, Jack returned her features to their usual stoniness and turned away from the happy congregation, the sounds of voices and crackling fires soon dulled until she was surrounded by nothing but cold air and hard battered junk metal.

Angrily she wiped her hand across her face to rid the stain the tear had left behind on her cheek. She marched purposefully back towards her office for a bit of quiet so she could gather herself back together enough so as not to fall to pieces again in front of her troops. It was bad for morale for her soldiers to think her weak or that Kyra's death had somewhat demotivated her. She had learnt that from her predecessor.

'In the eyes of your men, you are law, you are strength, you are even Lord God Himself. That's why you must never show them anything but your unwavering determination, your inner strength and your unquestionable judgement. Because if they think for only a second that you are just another weak human being, it will determine whether a battle is won or lost.'

That speech had gotten Jack through a lot of hard times, when she had felt like breaking down, when terrible memories invaded her dreams, she recalled those words and created a barrier between her doubt and her resolve. It had made her cold-hearted and distant, she had once or twice heard unkind names aimed in her direction when the speaker thought she was out of earshot, but she did not allow it to cut through her, only to confirm that she would not be hurt again.

Jack pushed her long hair out of her face, recalling the days when she had sheared it all off to resemble her childhood hero. She had been disgusted with being a girl, she had hated her curves and bumps, and she had especially hated 'that time of the month'. But as she grew up, Jack learnt to come to terms with who she was and in turn felt more comfortable in her own skin and becoming a woman rather then remaining a confused little boy.

Commander Fry straightened up as she returned to her office. The room was dark and cold so Jack lit a few candles and walked around her desk, letting her finger slide along the hard metal of her homemade desk she tried to push away the bad and miserable thoughts that were attempting to draw tears from her. She refused to allow any weakness to cloud her sense of judgement; it was all she had, all she could rely on as Commander.

A little too heavily, she dropped onto her chair and slumped there, her head leaned back against the backrest and she sighed up at the ceiling, trying to make sense of where her life had ended up. She would never have guessed it, not ten years ago she was a homeless orphan, no friends nor family. No one to care for her or about her, she had no earthly possessions, only the clothes on her back and the food she stole just to survive. Nothing was likely to change and she'd never expected it to. She lived life by the day, never making plans for the next week or the next year, she didn't even imagine she would live to see her next birthday. But then it all changed, when she met…him.

Jack rubbed her face, trying to wipe the years of torment and fatigued from her grubby features.

Richard B Riddick. A name she prayed every night she would forget, a man she hoped she would never see again. She could never forgive him and quietly she even loathed him. But when Kyra had radioed his demise, a part of her had gone cold and empty, like Riddick was still tied to her on a biological level, that for him to die would make her feel incomplete, and it both angered and frustrated her to feel that way.

Ten fucking years for Christ's sake! How can he still affect me? She thought.

But what was worse was the utter relief she felt when her spy told her that Riddick was alive and well. Why should she care? Why should she give a shit about a man who left her behind? He didn't give a fuck about her, so why did she?

Jack gritted her teeth, "You're fucking pathetic," she hissed to herself.

Disgusted and hurt, Jack reached under her desk and brought out the mature bottle of Red Gate whisky Commander Proctor had given her for her twenty-first birthday. She had meant the save it for a good day, perhaps the overthrow of the Necromongers, but perhaps Kyra's demise was a better way for it to be spent. Jack rose the bottle into the air to make a toast.

"To Kyra, the best of the best, the one who died for her coward of a so-called friend" she mused and through a few gulps of the brew down her throat, almost choking when she heard a voice at the door.

"Is that what you think you are?" Tim asked.

Jack felt a trickle of the liquid run down her chin; she wiped it away and stashed the bottle back under the desk.

"Are you a soldier, Tim?" Jack asked, squinting her eyes as the alcohol burned down her throat and let a warming sensation in the pit of her stomach.

Tim frowned, "Yes, Commander" he replied.

Jack slammed the palm of her hand down on the table and glared angrily at Tim, "Then knock before you fucking walk into my office!" she yelled angrily.

A look of surprise and hurt crossed Tim's face, which surprisingly satisfied Jack, but then it was crossed with anger and his features contorted into a heated glare as he clenched his fist. He took a confident step forward and swung the door shut behind him with a crash before turning on Jack.

"I may be one of your soldiers, Jack" he spat, "But I'm also your friend, and don't you fucking think for one second that you're more upset about Kyra's death then I am!" he snapped, stepping up to Jack as if he were going to plough right through her. Jack got to her feet and walked around her desk to face Tim, her own guilt was redirecting as anger at Tim.

"You're mouthing off to your Commanding Officer?" she yelled dangerously. She smirked when she saw his Adams apple twitch in his throat, but Tim pursed his lips and flicked his messy hair out of his eyes.

"No, I'm mouthing off to Jack. Just Jack. Not my CO, not the soldier, just the girl I've known for ten fucking years. I know you're upset" his features soften, "So am I, but you can't use your pain to hurt others and push everyone around you further away"

Jack was shocked, Tim hadn't spoken to her like this for years, and it brought back old memories of Zathos and of Cronos. She saw the old Tim shine through the eyes and a small part of her was happy to see he still existed, but she would not tolerate his insubordinate behaviour, she wouldn't put up to being spoken to like that.

"You're way out of line Tim," she hissed dangerously.

"No" he snapped, "You are. Where do you get off blaming yourself for Kyra's death? She did what she wanted to do! Kyra always did what she wanted to do, but instead of joining your men and celebrating her life, you're sulking in your office thinking only of yourself!" he finished.

Jack was too stunned to speak, she saw the passion in Tim's eyes, and she watched as his chest rose and fell with each breath, his face was red with heat. But before she could stop herself, Jack pulled back her hand and struck Tim roughly across the face. His head jerked to the side and stayed there, a fiery red mark on his cheek.

Jack watched as he slowly turned his head back to face her, angry and pained tears were swimming in his eyes and Jack saw the angry little boy she had once known, defending his store, so long ago.

"You don't understand" Jack whispered sternly, "It should have been me on Crematoria. He wanted me, not Kyra and I sent her to her death to protect me"

"Who wanted you?" Tim demanded, suddenly appearing a lot taller then he had a few minutes before. Jack found the proximity too close and moved back behind her desk.

"It doesn't matter now, Kyra's dead, I'm alive" Jack explained. But Tim wasn't happy with that answer and grabbed her arm by her wrist, jerking her around to face him.

"Who?!" he yelled. Jack yanked her hand out of his grip and with a sigh fell down upon her chair and fished out the whisky. Tim continued to stare at her, awaiting an answer. Jack held the lip of the bottle to her mouth and took a quick sip.

"You ever heard of Riddick?" she asked. She saw Tim's eyebrow twitch in recognition.

"The murderer?" he asked with a frown, "He's the one who was after you?"

"He's the one who saved us all from Zathos" Jack spat in contempt, "That bastard freed me then ditched me without a backward glance. I knew one day he would want to find me, so I stationed a spy to monitor the one person Riddick would go to, to find out where I was" she explained and took another sip of whisky.

"So Kyra was a diversion. You two looked so alike…" he trailed, putting two and two together. Jack nodded.

"She was supposed to keep him occupied until I could make further arrangements, until we could infiltrate the Necromonger's mother ship. But Riddick let the goddamn Necro's follow him to Crematoria. And you know the rest…" she trailed, gulping down half the whisky bottle.

Tim looked at the ground, a calculating look in his eye, "So you were never alone on Zathos. This Riddick was with you?" he asked.

"You could say that" Jack scoffed, although 'with' was an overstatement. The man had been both physically and emotionally unavailable.

"And he was the one Dr Redman wanted, the one he tortured you for?" Tim asked.

"Yes" Jack answered, a sadness drawing across her face, "Seems stupid now"

Tim shook his head, "How could you risk your life like that for a man who ditched you on Zathos?" she asked. Jack glanced up.

"It was a long time ago, Tim, let it go," she muttered, rubbing her forehead with the palm of her hand.

"No, Jack" hissed Tim, "You told me not to ask back then what was worth dying for, and you tell me it was a murderer. A man who left you, a man who got Kyra killed…yes I do mean Riddick!" Tim snapped, seeing my shocked expression, "It was more him then anyone! What made him so goddamn special you have to blame yourself and not him for Kyra's death?" he demanded.

His rise in tone forced Jack to her feet to square him off, "I ordered Kyra to Crematoria, I agreed with her decision to be taken prisoner by the Necromongers. Riddick didn't have anything to do with it" Jack replied hotly.

Tim shook his head, "Why are you defending him? After all this time and all he's put you through, why?" he demanded.

Jack paused, "I'm not! I'm just stating a fact. Now let it go!" she ordered and Tim fell silent. Commander Fry ran a hand through her hair and sighed.

"Were you in love with him?" Tim asked out of the blue, Jack's hand dropped to her side as she starred into Tim's deadly serious eyes.

"What?" she asked quietly.

"After all this time, why would he go looking for you? Why would you care?" he explained, a pathetic sadness in his eye.

"I am not and was never in love with Riddick" Jack scoffed, "Perhaps back then, I had a crush, but trust me, all feeling for that man evaporated as soon as he fucked me over"

Tim looked unconvinced, which caused angry bile to rise in Jack's throat, "Not that it's any of your goddamn business Tim! You can choose to believe me or not, whatever" she muttered and turned to her desk to shuffle some papers around, making it look like she was terribly busy.

"Have you ever been in love?" Tim asked quietly. Jack stopped what she was doing and turned back towards Tim and starred at him, sensing a vulnerability behind those sharp, brilliant eyes. Jack cocked her head and sighed.

"No, Tim. I haven't but-" she begun, but everything happened at once. Tim moved forward, cupping the back of her head with one of his hands and pressing himself into her, crushing his lips against hers in an enticing and passionate kiss that almost had Jack forgetting who and where she was.

She found herself almost opening up into the kiss before she realised it was Tim, her dear friend and loyal soldier and put her hands on his chest to push him away, breaking the kiss up. He opened his eyes, his hands fallen to his side and a desperate sadness in his eyes which made Jack choke inside. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him, but she had to squash this before it got further out of hand.

"Tim, I-" Jack begun, but was interrupted again by a knock at the door. "Enter!" she called as Tim took a defensive step away from her.

The door swung open and Ted Brewer accompanied by another rebel soldier Jack knew only as Gulster marched into the office.

"Commander Fry, we have a request," Brewer said, standing to attention.

"G o on" Jack replied, feeling Tim's eyes burning on the back of her neck.

"We, as in the soldiers and officers, Commander" Brewer started nervously, "We were wondering if you would say a few words about Kyra" he finished.

Jack nodded, "Of course" she said and looked over to Tim, his head hanging in humiliation, "After you, Tim" she said, hoping to catch his eye and let him know they would still be friends, but instead he gave a gruff, "Yes, Commander" and followed Brewer and Gulster out of the office.

Jack sighed, this was the last thing she needed and reluctantly she followed her men out into the dark, away from the rather confusing event that had just taken place.

**-oOo-**

**FemmePhanton - I've not actually seen Pet Sematary, but if that's what you pictured then I'm not one to put a stop to your imagination! But I can imagine that Riddick will be very pissed off with Jack, I'm looking forward to writing their confrontation.**

**BatPhace - I didn't really hustle this one up quick enough, so forgive me, but I thought I could do with a few internal moments for our main characters. Glad you like.**

**Amita4ever - Wow, that was a lovely review! I was unsure how people would react to it as I thought some might think it a little OOC, but we never do know what goes on in Riddick's head in the movies, shame.**

**Maria - Well thanks for your honesty, glad you decided to stick around for the rest of the fiction. I too wish they'd been another film about Jack and Riddick, I was gutted she died, but I wish they'd kept onto the original actress who played her. Hope you stick around!**

**FitMama - Thanks stranger, nice to see you're still ejoying my fics.**

**Sweetblood - Thanks, you'd think I have a lot of spare time, but really I don't! busy, busy, busy.**

**Sweetblood - Are you one of the mentioned? English, Scotish, Romanian? I love the name of Wentworth, it's powerful.**

**A/N : I'm so sorry that it has taken me this long to update, I think this has been the longest I left a story, but I had a serious case of writers block and a lot of things have been happening in my life at the moment which pushed updating way down on the priority list. So forgive me and I hope this makes up for it.**


	7. Fall Forever

**Chapter Six**

**Fall Forever**

**-oOo-**

Jack stood in front of the masses, her heart in her throat and her head twirling and whirling from the kiss Tim had planted on her lips. She felt hot all over and an indescribable guilt filtered into her mind.

She knew she didn't feel the same way, and she had left it far to late to talk to him about his evident feelings for her. There was no way she could get out of this without hurting him.

A cough in the crowd reminded Jack of where she was and what she was supposed to be doing. She cleared her throat and looked back up at the statue of Kyra, the firelight of the numerous bonfires danced and flickered across the metal. It made it almost God-like. Commander Fry's eyes grazed over the crowd, awaiting her speech, awaiting her uplifting words of comfort and hope, even though deep down she knew that half of what she was going to say to these men and women, was complete bullshit.

Taking a deep breath, she straightened herself and her old stone face reappeared, "Tonight we celebrate the life of one of our own" she began, her voice echoing over the valleys of metal and garbage, "We do not mourn, for there is no greater death then for the cause of freedom. Kyra was a soldier and she was my dearest friend, but I am not weakened, I am not disheartened and I do not allow any fear or doubt cross my mind, because we were born to fight the Necromongers!" Jack yelled, punching her fist into the air, following almost immediately by the echoing cheers of the soldiers.

"Kyra was a beacon, she still is a beacon, to those who wish to live their lives the way they chose, the way they wish! Kyra fought for that right, she fought for her right to give her life up for her cause, for her friends and family, which are all of us. We are a family and I don't doubt that any one of you would sacrifice yourself like Kyra did. That is what makes us different from the Necro's and that is what makes us strong"

Commander Fry took a moment to take in her soldier's facial expressions. She was relieved the see that they were taking in everything she was saying. They were nodding, they were crying, they were in awe of her words.

_I never would have guessed this would be where I would be ten years ago_. She thought. _What a strange fucked up world_.

"So tonight, we raise our glasses, to not only a brilliant and brave soldier. But to a friend, to a sister and a daughter. To Kyra!" Jack shouted, punching the air again with her fist. An uproar of cheers, shouts and cries lifted into the air, Jack could feel the hope and the spirits lift within their circle and with a sense of pride, she realised it was because of her, because of her inspiring words, and with that she looked up at the statue of Kyra.

"I hope that was good enough for you…sister" she smiled.

**-oOo-**

Riddick didn't want to stay on that rock for another minute, but the guilt of leaving Imam's widow and fatherless child not knowing what had become of him had forced him to head back into the city to return to their home.

By now, the streets were cramming with people, all trying to rebuild their homes, stealing food and money for their former neighbours and friends. A few even brought our daggers and other weapons to steal the simplest thing as a pail of water or a kettle of fish. It seemed that all the efforts of clear the streets had been futile, many more now lay in their stead.

It was safe to say that Helion Prime would take decades, if not more to return to it's former prosperous form. Riddick chuckled; it was amazing that such a beautiful, productive city that took a millennia to build, crumbled and burned within a few hours.

_Pathetic_, he thought, _and they wonder why I stay away from their so-called 'civilised societies'._

Finally, Riddick came to the now dilapidating home of Imam. The balcony that over looked the street had crumbled in front of the front door, leaving only a small gap were a dog or a small child could climb through. Clothes and other belongings had been blasted out of the windows and strewn on the streets. Riddick bent down and picked up a small homemade doll. It's hair was black and singed at the edges, and the once white dress it wore was now tattered and stained from the dirt.

Riddick looked back up at the house and pulled his goggles up from his eyes, the sky was dark enough for him to see better without them now and it was a good thing too, as he could just make out a very small flame emitting from one of the windows on the first floor.

Holding the doll tightly in his big, paw like hands, Riddick took a step towards the building, leaping up onto the shards of the balcony and pulling himself up to the windowsill. The room was dark, save for a single, lonely candle sitting in the middle of the table. All the other furniture had either been blown out of the house or crushed and crumbled save for a chaise lounge that had been pushed up against a wall. It was occupied by two figures. A long, slender female lay on her side cuddling a small child to her chest. The child, who Riddick recognised as Ziza, was asleep and grasped her hands to her chest as if she were holding something that no one could see.

Lajjun, Imam's wife, was resting with her head in her hand, her fingers absent-mindedly running through her daughters hair as her eyes remained unfocused on the torn rug under her.

Riddick silently jumped from the windowsill to the floor, Lajjun still failing to notice the intruder continued to stare off into space until Riddick was far enough to cast a shadow across her face.

At first she jumped and screamed, waking Ziza as she struggled to get to her feet, but then she saw his animal like eyes and muscular form and settled only slightly into grabbing her daughter and holding her close to her. Ziza herself looked almost excited as well as sleepy to see Riddick there.

"What do you want?" Lajjun demanded.

Riddick looked around the room for a second time. Making sure they were truly alone. And they were.

"Imam" he muttered, studying Lajjun's facial expressions as they changed for terrified to depressed in a matter of milliseconds.

"Is he…?" she trailed with a gulp, hardly able to finish her sentence, especially with her daughter so near.

"Yes" Riddick replied bluntly. Lajjun bit her lip and closed her eyes, allowing only one singular tear to roll down her face. Evidently for her daughter's sake, she was trying to hold it together. Riddick couldn't help admiring her for it.

"Where is he? Please tell me you know," She pleaded.

"Outside the city, half a mile west. Under a tree" he explained, he saw the woman nod and hold her daughter closer to her.

"What happened to daddy?" she asked Riddick. Lajjun kissed her daughter on the head and answered for him.

"He's gone to paradise, baby" she replied, allowing another few tears to sleep down her elegant face.

Riddick felt uncomfortable, he had never been good with consoling people, he had only every tried to with Jack, which had felt oddly natural, but now it felt as alien to him as the Necromonger's Underverse. He just didn't get it anymore. The only thing to do now, was leave and hope Lajjun had the smarts to do the same. There was nothing for her here anymore, and it was not a world that a child like Ziza should grow into if she wanted a chance in life. But Hell, he wasn't about to give parenting lessons.

Riddick turned to leave, but Lajjun called for him to stop.

"Wait! Where will you be going now?" she asked. Riddick refused to turn around, hoping that she was not inviting herself along with him. He'd had it with tag-alongs, they only got themselves killed. Kyra and Imam were proof of that.

"I don't know" he said truthfully.

"It's not safe here for a child anymore" Lajjun said, "I would hope you would let us come with you, at least until we can find another planet to make a home on"

Riddick gritted his teeth, "Are you sure?" he asked, "Space ain't all that safe either" he added, trying to convince them to let him go alone.

"It can't be much more dangerous then remaining here" Lajjun replied, slowly rising to her feet. Riddick looked at her.

She was a frail woman, with years of toil and hard work lined in her face, yet she still looked oddly fresh and young. She nervously wrung her hands in front of her, the bottom of her robe was tattered and was covered in a thin layer of dust and dirt. Her hair was up, but out of placed, obviously affected by the explosions and harsh weather. The scene was oddly pathetic.

"Imam was a good man" Riddick said, "I ain't prepared to put his family in danger, I owe him that much" he added and walked over to the table with the sad lonely candle and dropped onto the surface the small doll that had remained clutched in his hand. And before another word could be uttered, he vanished out of the window.

Ziza looked up at her mother, "Will he really leave us, Mommy?" she asked sadly.

Lajjun looked down at her child and gave her a sad smile, "Oh my dear, I'm sure he won't. But I need to speak to a friend first before we leave" she said, her eyes grazing the windowsill.

**-oOo-**

**Amita4ever - lol, I am just terrible. All the things I've done to poor Jack. You're right, things are going to be a little awkward between her and Tim for a while! And don't worry, I will put the confrontation in soon, at lot sooner then you might be expecting, I'm really looking forward to it.**

**BatPhace - Riddick is definitly not over yet, he's still got a big part to play. And don't worry about the late review, I'm slacking a little in my updates coz of real life too. Damn, why can't we all live in the magical world of fanfiction!**

**A/N: Yes, this update is terribly late, but I've been so busy lately! Also, I'm going to London for 2 weeks on monday, so it will be a while before my next update again. Sorry! **

**In the meantime, if you want to chat, add me onto MSN. **


	8. Settle Up

**Chapter Seven**

**Settle Up**

**-oOo-**

Jack remained with the troops for another half an hour before she excused herself to make an important phone call. However, the truth was that she needed to get away from Tim, and the pained expression he kept shooting her way at intervals.

She didn't know what she was going to say to him, only that she had to get the matter straight. She did feel love for him, but not in the way she sensed he wanted her to, and not in the way she had felt for Riddick all those yeas ago. She only hoped she could salvage their relationship before it was too late.

_Damn you Tim_, she thought, _why the hell did you have to kiss me? Like I didn't have enough to worry about right now_.

Jack entered her dark office and switched on the main light before striking a match from her desk and lighting the assorted candle on the makeshift desks. Jack could still see the hazy glow of the bonfires from out of her window and the odd bout of laughter and loud yelling drifted lazily to her ears.

With a sign, Jack slumped onto her chair at her desk and dropped her head in her hands. She felt physically and mentally worn and scared from all the years of toil and loneliness. Her thoughts went back to Riddick for another time that day; she was infuriated that his presence still lingered in her mind.

_Ten Goddamn years, Jack!_ She thought angrily, _Get over him; he sure as hell got over you._

Without thinking, the Commander's hand snaked under the desk and pulled out the bottle of whisky, she wrapped her lips around the rim of the bottle and took a deep, raw swig of the bronze liquid as it seemingly, for a second, melted her worries away. But as the liquid hit her stomach, the coldness returned and she tucked the bottle back under the desk before she was tempted to drink herself in oblivion.

Jack tucked away the papers that were on her desk, they could wait for tomorrow. Right now she didn't feel she was in the right frame of mind to be doing anything other then feel sorry for herself and mourn the losses she had suffered over the years.

Jack was just about the shut her drawer door when the radio behind her crackled into life. Commander Fry frowned and found herself starring at the machine until sense told her to find out who was trying to contact her.

The frequency that the universal radio worked on was only known by a small few and was only to be used in emergencies only. The last communiqué Jack had received over the radio had been from Kyra herself; informing Jack that Riddick was dead. The radio was a very ancient type of technology, which made it virtually undetectable with the vast amount of modern technology normally carried by spaceships and shuttles. After a lot of modification, the scientists on this rock had broadened the range of the radio expanantiously, making it possible to talk to planets with the same technology from hundreds of light-years away.

Jack rushed to her feet and grabbed the handset of the radio, holding it to her lips, ready to answer the speakers voice. The line crackled a few more times before a very faint and unclear voice broek through the static.

"…mander Fry…La…Mon…killed…one…Imam…nowhere…elp…need assist…"

Jack frowned, leaning her ears closer to the radio speakers. The voice was definitely female and also very fluster and upset. I strained the hear the voice again and twiddled with the knobs on the machine to help define the voice.

"…Fry!…need to spe…mander Fry!"

Jack gave the dial another good turn and the voice came loud and clear with only a small amount of static in the background.

"Commander Fry. I need to talk to Commander Fry. Hello? Anyone there? This is an emergency!" the voice said.

Jack clicked the button the handset, "This in Commander Fry, identify yourself and state the password" Jack replied.

"Commander! This is Lajjun. The password is 'Carolyn', I need to speak with you urgently" came the reply.

I felt my heart beat quicken, "Lajjun? What's wrong?" I asked.

The line crackled again, "Commander, everything's gone wrong. The city is destroyed and our home is in ruins!" came the exasperated reply.

"Whoo, what happened? Are you okay? Did the Necromon-"

"The Necromongers have left, but Riddick didn't go with them" she replied.

Jack frowned. Riddick refused his rightful position as Lord Marshal? Jack wasn't all that surprised, Riddick was a loner, but surely such power and protection was tempting enough to at least stay long enough to figure out if it was really what he wanted.

Jack rubbed her forehead; Riddick did continue to surprise her.

"Okay, Lajjun. Where are you now?" Jack asked into the handset.

"We're still on Helion Prime, but Riddick is leaving. What should we do?"

Jack paused for a moment to think. She was thrown by the obvious distress in Lajjun's voice.

Ever since Jack had recruited her five years before, she had never heard that desperation and fear, and it unnerved her. It had been a terrible but necessary decision to send Lajjun to track Imam and make sure he remained safe when she first assumed control of the Rebel Army. Jack feared that someone would be looking for Imam to find either herself or Riddick and she could not let Imam come to harm after he had taken her in for so long after Riddick had abandoned her.

Of course she had not planned on Lajjun and Imam falling in love, but it at least eased Jack's conscious when she thought of all the secrets she was now hiding from him. But now, that was all going to change. Imam would now have to know that she was Commander Fry of a Rebel Army, but mentioning that Lajjun was a plant was something that she would leave up to her. Besides, it had been many years since Jack had heard and seen the Holy Man and she looked forward to seeing his kind wide eyes and cheering smile.

So Jack lifted the handset and clicked the button on the side of the device, "Lajjun, I want you to bring you and your family here. There's nothing for you there anymore"

There was a slight paused on the other end of the line before Lajjun's miserable voice crackled over the line, "Of course, Commander, but the Necromongers destroyed almost all the commercial ships in the city's docks. And even if I could find a ship, I can't pilot" she replied.

Jack clicked her tongue. She had hoped to find a way of avoiding Riddick coming to her moon, but for Lajjun, Imam's and Ziza's safety, she had no choice.

"Riddick can pilot. Persuade him to let you go along, he won't refuse. Especially with Imam there" Jack smiled.

Another long pause. Jack sensed something wasn't quite right.

"Lajjun? Did you get my message?"

"Y-yes, Commander. Received. But how can I get Riddick to come to you?"

Jack sighed. This would be tricky. Riddick would not accept Lajjun's giving directions and he would not be intercepted by any of her men. Jack realised she would have to go herself.

"I will intercept your ship when you clear Helion Prime. Take the radio, there's a tracking device lodge in it somewhere"

"Are you sure that is wise, Commander?" Lajjun replied.

"No, but it's the only way to save lives" Jack replied, "Just be safe and watch your back. Oh…" Jack muttered, "…Good luck with Imam"

Another pause, "…of course, Commander. We'll see you soon…" and the line went dead.

Jack looked at the radio and sighed. She only hoped she had done the right thing.

Riddick was going to be pissed.

**-oOo-**

**Amita4ever - Thanks for the review, I'm hoping that Ziza will remind Riddick of Jack when she was child which will ultimately be more painful for him as he still thinks Jack is dead. Lajjun (as you know now) was the spy, but she's not over yet, I'm sure I can find another way to keep her in the story. Prehaps she can be the female Imam? I actually went to Spain last year to visit my grandparents, I had to go to London for a 2 week training course for my new job and as London is a 2 hour drive away from my home I opted to stay in a hotel to avoid traffic.**

**FemmePhantom - You think so? I think despite his hard exterior and bad attitude, Riddick could never abandon a family in need, especially Imam's. Opps! I gave away the next chapter. I am definitly looking forward to writing the reunion. Should be messy! London was okay I suppose, I got to visit the set of Eastenders (English Soap) and got all my meals and drinks paid for by my new employees at the hotel I was stay at!**

**FitMama - I agree with you there. Riddick feels he owes a debt to Imam and as he's dead he can only do the next best thing and help his family.**

**Bloody Vyvyan - Wow, thanks for that really inspiring review, it honestly makes it all worth while when I get messages like that. I have to say that I was a little nervous about turning the little street urchin Jack into an eloquent Commander of a Rebel Army, but I'm glad to see it's been accepted quite readily by my readers. Hang on in.**

**aniah - Well I have to say a massive 'SORRY' to everyone as I have been extremely late in updating this. To be perfectly honest I had a slight...ok...massive case of writers block and also starting a new job has left me so exhausted at the end of the day I can barely turn on my computer to type anything!**

**SweetBlood - Thank you for your approval and it definitly is daring. There was a 50/50 chance I was going to get either positive or negative comments on this new fic, but I'm glad to see it's all good!**

**BatPhace - Aww, just a few words from you to let me know you're still following my work. Much appreciated Batty, you rock!**

**Naijora - Oh crap! Invisible man-eating teddies? Oh! Hang on, I'm a female so does that exclude me? Well hopefully this update will keep them at bay for the meantime.**

**NotAfraidToLive - Wow, thanks for this awesome review. I'm so chuffed you're enjoying it, it really means the world to me!**

**A/N: Ok, well firstly I would like to shout SORRY from the rooftops for my negligence to this fanfic. As said above, I needed to go to London for 2 weeks for a training programme and have now started my new job which isn't pretty much a full on one which causes me to flop on my bed in exhaustion every night with a painfully thumping brain. I will try to get an update on every weekend, but as I have no access to the internet during work hours now, I am unable to get it up any quicker then that. But thanks again for all the reviews and keep on rocking!**


	9. Primitive Side

**Chapter Eight**

**Primitive Side**

**-oOo-**

Finding a form of transport off of Helion Prime was causing more of a task then Riddick had first thought. It seemed that most of the surrounding Space Ports had been cleared of anything capable of flight; even the less popular Bluebirds had all been bought or stolen, which meant that Riddick was forced to search the outer reaches of the city where the attack had been slightly lesser and more people had not felt so fearful as to leave their homes and possessions.

Riddick slipped down the alleyways and private roads, trying to keep out of sight of the remaining townsfolk who had allowed curiosity to get the better of them and gathered in groups under the moonlight to gossip about what had happened in the city and to hear theories on why the Necromongers had so suddenly left Helion Prime.

It seemed the outer rims of the city were not as badly damaged, there seemed to be a handful of houses that didn't seem to have suffered any damage at all in the attack, but that didn't stop thieves and looters from attacking and breaking into homes, stores and even monasteries to steal whatever the greedy bastards could get their hands on. It made Riddick not happy, but relieved to not be a part of that world. Riddick was a murderer; he made no pretences about that. He was what he was and if nobody liked it they could fuck off, but these 'civilised' people turned on the very people they lived with for a chance at riches. And they called him the monster.

Riddick carried on down the alleyway he had been following, he had caught the scent of shuttle fuel on the strong breeze that funnelled down the back paths of the city and was following his nose like a dog would. He came across no one save a dead priest lying face down in a pool of his own blood, but Riddick had hopped easily over that and without a backward glance, at least his troubles were over.

It was when Riddick had reach the end of the alleyway, where the path branched off into several different directions that the wind shifted direction and threw a familiar scent into his face. Instinctly he dropped down and placed a hand over the shiv wedged in the back of his waistband, but the memory of that flowery and feminine smell told him that there was no threat, he knew he was being followed by instead of doubling back to take out the stalker, he carried on, hoping that somewhere Imam was watching and forgiving him for the sins the Holy Man had placed against him.

**-oOo-**

Commander Fry was again sitting at her desk with a terrible hangover, she held her head in her hands and groaned, wishing her self-pity and hatred had not led her to open that bottle of whisky.

"Damn it" she muttered groggingly, reaching for a pitcher of water and tried to wash the terrible fuzziness the alcohol had left on her teeth.

At some point that night, after the discussion with Lajjun, she had passed out on her desk and now to compliment the dreadful headache and dry mouth, her back was aching, but she had much work to do and to make things even worse, it was Tim who knocked on her door to fetch her.

"Commander" he said thickly, his arms held behind his back as he eyed the floor. It disturbed Commander Fry that he didn't look her in the eye like he usually did which only confirmed her theory that he was still hurting.

"Morning Tim" she muttered, pushing herself unsteadily on her feet, willing her brain to cooperate," We have a lot of work to do. It seems Riddick is leaving Helion Prime; Lajjun is going to try and stowaway. She will transmit their location so we can intercept" she explained.

Tim frowned, bringing his eyes level with hers "You want to bring Riddick here?"

Jack walked over to the window of her office and starred out onto the dunes of garbage that surrounded her home, "He has a lot of information, and we'll need him if we want to take down the Necromongers once and for all"

Tim wasn't convinced, "But he got Kyra killed! And you want to bring him into the middle of our operation?"

Jack spun to face him but greatly wished she hadn't as her vision blurred for a moment, "He was appointed Lord Marshall, he has been in their stronghold, spoken to Lord Vaako! Anything he knows will be greatly important to our cause, Tim" she growled, "Even you must see that"

Tim paused for a moment, but he still did not look convinced, but he knew as well as Jack did, that he didn't have to be, it was Commander Fry's final word that mattered "What would you like me to do, Commander?" he asked, reverting back to subordinate in flash.

"Ready the Shazza, I want a twenty strong crew ready to fly in ten minutes and I want sedation pistols ready for every man on board" she ordered, clenching her fists about to say the name that she had vowed never to say again, "We're going after Richard B Riddick"

**-oOo-**

**SweetBlood - I'll take that as a compliment, it's no fun if your readers know which direction your going!**

**1elena1 - Hi new reviewer! Thanks for the comments, I really appreciate them.**

**Amita4ever - Babe! Long time no see! Sorry it's been so long since I've updated, especially as you've been my number 1 supporter all through Part I and then through Part II. Unfortunatly my muse was pointing me in another direction and I just had to follow, I always intended to return, but unfortunatly my stupid job kept me all busy and stressed until I finally called it quits and told my boss where to stick her job. Anyways, it's left me with more time to write, which will be good all round! **

**angelwingz21 - No need to apologise, I have been naughty and left this story hanging for so long so I'm the one who should be sorry. And yes, they will meet soon but not in this chapter. I wanted to get back into the feel of the two characters and this chapter is just a bridge between moments. It will come though!**

**FemmePhantom - Yes London was fun, but in the long run it was a waste of time as I mentioned above to Amita4ever, I quit. Ah well. However the question still remains as to whether Riddick will leave Lajjun and Ziva. I do have the answer to that question, but I'm not gonna reveal it just yet. Ha-Ha, I'm evil!**

**Naijora- Ah my crazy, crazy friend. Do you have any randomness to send my way?**

**Tinca - Your review left me with a warm feeling inside. I thank you. It's makes me happy to see that all my little tidbits and characterisations that I slip into the story are being picked up. I don't know how it is for all you other writers but I find it so hard to keep within a character, you'll always questioning each vocab and each movement they make and think whether or not this is what they would do. It's pretty tough! **

**anime-catdragon - Ah! You read me like a book. Jack's character is most difficult because although I wanted her to change or 'grow up' as Riddick told her to do at the end of the last fic, I want his presence to bring back a little of the old Jack, to which the new Jack is trying to supress, if that makes any sense. Perhaps she's trying too hard to be 'grown up' that we're not actually seeing the 'real' her until Riddick returns? It's all so very confusing, isn't it?**

**NotAfraidToLive - Thanks for the pepy review, keep 'em coming!**

**MercuryAshlingPrincess - I'm curious as to which part had you 'laughing your ass off' but here is some more as promised!**

**TsukiNamida - Well I had a little bit of time on my hands today so randomly thought, hey, why don't I go over some of the stories I've written on ? So I did and went through Part I and II of Riddick and really got back into the vibe of the story. Perhaps its the lack of stress but I'm beginning to see the story line quite clearly again, whoopie!**

**BatPhace - Hey Batty! Good to hear from you too! Well it is a little late but here is the next chapter. I know it's disappointingly short, but I wanted to make sure I was up to the writing standard of my old fic concidering I hadn't come back to it for over a year. I'm afraid I've been a little slack!**

**Katty Noir - Well my trip to London wasn't for pleasure unfortunatly, but I'm glad you enjoyed the capital of my country! And thanks for the comment on my fic, it's what I live for!**

**SweetBlood - Haven't I already heard from you?**

**Durcairiel - I've not quite figured out the meeting between Tim and Riddick, though I'm getting a sense that Tim is gonna be less then pleased to see him back in Jack's life, it will be interesting to write that one! Thanks for the positive words.**

**Bria! - OK!**

**Sunshine - I know my spelling is shit, one day I will go back and edit it all correctly, but right now I don't have the energy to go through it all.**

**Midnightmare - Cool name. The mental snag I refered to wasn't so much as what to do next, it was more like 'how' to do it next. I didn't want the reunion scene to be completely rubbish and a disappointment to myself, you guys and the story, so I wanted to get a clearer picture of the characters and the setting, I'm getting a clearer idea, but any imput would be welcome.**

**Johesaphana the Magnificellent - Aww, thanks for your lovely words!**

**A/N: I AM BACK PEOPLE! After a very, very, very long hiatus, I am intending to return to the world of Riddick, Jack and the Necromongers. Peace out my loyal readers!**


End file.
